


old Flames Of Armageddon

by LadyCold, MissyLeyneous



Series: All Is Fair In Love And War [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Frisk left the underground with a lot of dust on their hands, Other, Post-Neutral Route (Undertale), Readers gender is unspecified, Undyne is queen, Veteran Grillby, and very angry at humans, goodbye humanity, probably gonna throw up sometimes but Its not detailed, reader kinda has an eating disorder but doesnt see it as a problem, reader was a nerd that hid in the basement of their home and prepared for the apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-29
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-05-16 22:45:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5843872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyCold/pseuds/LadyCold, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissyLeyneous/pseuds/MissyLeyneous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Old story and is currently being rewritten, this version of the story is discontinued</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello! this story is hopefully gonna be a very long one with lots of adventure and feels.
> 
> if you would like to talk to me or possibly give ideas for me to work with please check out my new tumblr thing
> 
> ~ http://ladyofcold.tumblr.com/ its too empty right now...
> 
> please enjoy!!!

The war hit fast, too fast for most humans to see. No one could have foreseen a monster coming from the mountain to collect human souls.

 

Soon enough, an army of monsters followed, cutting down humans and harvesting souls. The government tried to bomb the area, and deal with all the monsters at once. Somehow, it did nothing but destroy the land around them.

 

Monsters stood tall with a vengeance on humans.

 

You were in a town about a five hour drive from the hell-hole they marched out of. You saw the air crafts heading toward it and knew what was going to happen. You packed everything you needed into your car and waited in the basement. The shock wave hit hard, and the fallout was coming down. You got in your car as soon as everything was calm, thanking whatever god there was for your garage to protect it.

 

You drove as far as you could.

 

You couldn't escape the war though.

 

Soon enough the world was being taken over. Humans didn't stand a chance against the monsters with extra souls. You heard that ones without souls weren't as hard to kill.

 

You didn't really want to kill anyone.

 

It didn't help that when the government failed, humans started turning against each other. So with monsters and humans killing humans, humanity was kinda fucked.

 

* * *

 

  
You managed to avoid monsters and humans alike. You're lonely, but alive with no blood or dust on your hands. You avoided towns and cities, cities were the worst. You checked the gas stations you passed, and only went into small towns if you needed to. If the town looked like it'd been cleaned up already, you decided it was probably dangerous, and marked it on your map of towns to avoid.

 

You almost ran into a monster settlement. There was a kid monster (or you think it was a kid) that saw you. They didn't attack or run. They just watched you. It was very awkward but you shrugged at them and ran off. No one chased you. You think the kid probably saved you by not calling anyone.

 

You drew a big circle on that area.

 

The nights that you couldn't find shelter were the worst. You didn't sleep much anymore, but on those nights you didn't sleep at all. You made a tiny fire, mostly just for light. After a few times of putting it out in fear of a sound you heard, you decided those nights you're just going to keep walking and not bother stopping.

 

* * *

 

 

Right now, you're the luckiest person in the world. You found a small cabin in the forest, not too far from the road but far enough not to be seen. It looks like it's already been looted but that's fine. You're just happy to find candles and a bed with blankets, with more blankets and sheets in the closet.

 

The first thing you do is cover the windows with some of the blankets.

 

You make a plan for an escape route, if the front door is not an option.

 

Once the house is secured, you debate on whether you should eat or not. You decide you still have one more day before you should eat. You go and lay down on the bed.

 

God, you haven't been on a nice bed in forever, maybe you can even sleep tonight. You should probably check to see if the water is running. Tomorrow though, you're too comfortable now.

 

It takes forever for you to finally fall into a dreamless sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

You wake up well rested and reluctant to get up. You remind yourself you still have things to do before you can truly relax.

 

You get up and go to your bag, grabbing a can of soup. You use your trusty knife to open it. You soon have the whole can empty. Eating every few days really sucks, but you save rations this way.

 

You put the can aside (you can probably use it later to hold water or something) and start with the washroom. You test the taps for water, but nothing comes out. You're disappointed, but you guess you're lucky to just have this place.  
Next you search the cupboards, finding very little that is useful. You look at the hair products and soap on the shelf by the shower, the conditioner is nearly empty but the shampoo is half full. Sweet. If you can find a reliable water source, you can actually clean yourself properly.

  
Next stop is the kitchen; you found out a long time ago to never open the fridge unless you want to be sick.  
The tap here doesn't give water either.

 

All you can really find is silverware and knocked over cleaning supplies. You take some extra knives.

 

You can never have too many knives.

 

You sigh, grabbing a water bottle from your bag and drink it. You'll have to go hunting for a water source soon. You like the cabin, so you'll see how long you can push staying here till you have to move on again.

 

* * *

 

 

It's been a few days since you moved into this little cabin.

 

You were exploring the forest for a water source when you ran into a small group of humans, a girl and two boys, one of the boys still seeming to be young. While they were wary at first, they soon figured out that you were human too, and they relaxed.

  
"So, what'chu doin' here?" the woman asks.

  
"I had planned on staying in this area for a bit."

 

The older boy spoke next. "You're staying in that cabin near the road aren't you?" You nod.

 

"It's gonna get real cold there soon, so watch yer'self, an' ya can see the smoke of a fire there from the road." The woman warns you.

 

"You could come with us." The youngest boy suggests. The woman seems to tense. She doesn't like that idea.

 

You smile. "I'm afraid I'll have to decline. I'm a bit of a loner." It's a poor excuse, but the woman relaxes.

 

"That's for the best hun, the others back home wouldn't take too kindly to a random stranger joining us, no offense," the woman says. The younger boy looked a bit guilty.

 

You assure her that you'll stay out of their way.

 

"Now that ain't sayin' we can't be neighbors! Say, you wouldn't happen to have any weapons you'd be willin' to trade?"

 

"I have a shotgun that I don't need. It's out of bullets though," you shrugged.

 

She lights up, grinning. "That sounds perfect, what'cha need? Food, clothes?"

 

"I'm actually out here looking for water." You tell them.

 

The older boy answers. "There's a river to the south, it's a bit of a walk but it's not too far."

 

"Now we woulda told you that for free, c'mon, we gotta be fair in our trades if we're gonna be near each other." The woman speaks out and frowns.  
You try to tell her it's fine, because the gun is empty, but she's having none of it.

  
"Fine... I suppose I could always use more food." You suggest.

 

* * *

 

 

The woman tells the boys to go back and get some food, while she walked with you. On the way back to the cabin, she tells you her name is Cindy, the youngest boy was Matt and the older boy was Oliver. She talks about a lot of things. It's nice talking to another person again.

 

You get her the gun, and you offer her a knife too which she accepts. You notice her look over the gun.

 

"This beauty looks barely used."

  
"I'm not too great with guns, mostly kept it just to look well armed." You admitted. She nods.

  
The boys are back soon, the older one, Oliver carrying the box of food. He sets it down inside for you. You thank him and he nods. Cindy shakes your hand and tells you that they'll tell their group about you so that you aren't attacked.

 

They bid you goodbye and leave you be. You put the food with the rest of yours. You think that, if you ate like a normal person, you'd have about two months worth of food, but with your terrible eating habits you could probably make it last longer.

 

You're pretty sure eating only once or twice a week counts as an eating disorder. You should lay out traps for rodents, with fresh meat you have to eat it right away so it doesn't go bad.

 

Good plan.

 

* * *

 

  
You've been in the cabin for awhile now. Cindy visits sometimes, you think she's worried that you're going to be a threat, but after a bit she calms down.  
Matt's a sweetheart, he takes the pelts of the rodents you've caught and makes them into socks for you. You show him some wild plants that he can use to make tea.  
Oliver doesn't visit unless Cindy brings him.  
You've also met a few others for their little group, and they seem like good people. They're slowly getting less nervous about you.

 

 

Your cabin is well secured. There's traps for rodents along the forest (you asked the group to watch out for them). The windows are all blocked except the one in the bedroom which is your planned escape route. The front door is blocked with a dresser that has plates balanced on it so that they would fall if disturbed. You use, and have asked the group to use, the back door. That one is only blocked by a desk at night.

 

The longer you stayed, the more your neighbors warmed up to you. They had started welcoming you to their little camp. You stayed with your cabin, but you visited them from time to time. One time, you were invited to go 'hunting.' Cindy quickly covered for you. You found out that they liked to track down any monster that came anywhere close to them. Cindy spoke to you after they left. "I don't think ya'll are the type to get dust on ya." She was right, you thanked her, and she waved you off, telling you to at least pretend you had some intense hatred.

 

Every once in a while, you traveled out to get more supplies, whether to keep or trade with your neighbors. This brought them closer to you, and you're glad to be on friendly terms with everyone.

  
Things weren't so bad anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to MissyLeyneous for their help!
> 
> and thank you to all of you and you're lovely comments! they make me really happy OuO
> 
> if you'd like, check out the tumblr for my stories, http://ladyofcold.tumblr.com/

You awoke with a loud knocking on the door. Groaning, you force yourself up, looking through the small opening you left on your window. Cindy was there waiting.

You sigh and head down. Shoving the desk out of the way, you open your door for her.

 

"Ugh, Cid. You know I'm never up this-" You cut yourself off seeing the bandages on her arm. "Woah, what happened?"

  
She grins at you. "Eh, it ain't nothing, don't get your panties in a twist." She gets serious in second, and it kinda scares you. "More worried 'bout ya'll. Gotta monster wondering about, real nasty fella. Made of fire. Got burned by 'em."

  
You feel your hair stand on end. "I-is everyone alright?" You ask.

 

She tenses. "Ya know Peter?"

 

"Weird guy that likes braiding his hair?"

 

"Yeah." She gives a small laugh. "He got hurt pretty bad, he's alive but he's gonna scar." She's silent for a moment. "Anyway, that _firefuck_ hurt one of us, and we're gonna take it down. As far as we know it's still 'round these parts so ya gotta be careful, if ya see it come get us."

 

You nod, and ask her if she'd like to stay for tea. She laughs at you and you two have a lovely tea party.

 

* * *

 

   
You lay on your bed bored as hell. You were paranoid about this monster finding your cabin. What if they find you? You could try to fight, but apparently it's literal fire, how does someone fight that? You guess you could try using water. Yeah, you'll set some water bottles aside just in case. Wait, what if-

  
You're startled from your thoughts by the sound of thunder. When did it start raining? You look outside.

 

_Shit it's coming down hard._

 

You collect your buckets and empty cans, and set them out to collect rain water before heading back inside.

 

* * *

 

  
You manage to get some sleep.  
You dream of a flaming hand, raising from hell to burn you.

  
At night, you wake up from your restless sleep to gunshots. They didn't sound that far. You convince yourself that your neighbors caught that monster.

 

* * *

 

 

You lay there for who knows how long trying to sleep again.

 

You hear the crash of the front door being forced open.

 

_Shit shit shit._

 

You go into panic mode and grab your bed knife(you have knifes hidden everywhere.) You wait, hearing a struggle to get the dresser back in front of the door. You sneak to the main room while the thing is busy. You see it from behind. It almost looks like a man if not for the flames dancing dimly around it head. He, or it, seems to be wearing a torn dress shirt and dark pants.

 

They seem in a panic, flames low and quiet. You notice their left side is almost covered in black, it looks like coal or something. They back away from the door, falling backwards. You step out, knife ready to strike.

 

They tense and jump up as soon as you make yourself known. They hold their left arm and stare you down.

 

You stare at them.

 

You both hold that long stare for a bit.

 

They move first, waving their good arm and shooting fire at you. You brace for impact, but it doesn't even reach you, stopping short of a foot away from the monster.

  
You hear the crackling of fire as they back away from you.

 

Holy shit. They're scared of you.

 

You have a monster boxed in and helpless.

 

You don't feel any satisfaction, you just feel bad for it.

 

You try to convince yourself to kill it, to not be weak and end this life.

 

But... What right do you have to end a person's life?

 

You're going to regret this.

You sigh. You hold up your hands where they can see them, moving to set the knife aside.

 

"I don't want to-" You're cut off as you're knocked back suddenly.

 

The monster lashes forward, making you drop your knife.

 

It kicks your feet from under you, making you collapse onto your back. It's on top of you in moments, pinning you down.  
It grabs your throat. It's hands hot and starting to burn as it pushes down.

 

You struggle, trying kick, shove, anything to get it off you.

 

You don't want to die.

 

You're scared, it burns, your hands are burn from trying to hit the thing. It all burns. You meets it eyes, it's narrowed to yours wide.

 

You silently beg, grasping at its arm.

 

"P-please." You choke out, it burns.

 

  
The monster stops. It's heat fading away.

 

You're crying, rambling.

_I don't want to die please I wasn't going to fight you please please please don't kill me please stop_

 

It gets off of you.

 

  
You scramble away as soon as it's weight is let up.

 

Stumbling to run and grabbing your knife, you try to escape this monster but it's faster, grabbing a hold of you.

 

You struggle, trying to escape before it hurts you again.

 

_It doesn't burn_

 

It keeps you down until your panic dies. Your adrenaline wears off and you're left on your knees with the monster crouching to your height holding your wrists.

"Where do you keep your water?" It asks, it's voice smooth, demanding(concerned.)

 

You're shaking, but you stutter out an answer.

 

It tries to help you to your feet. You only fall again. It picks you up, slowly, carefully, and sits you down on the couch.

 

"Stay here." It leaves for a moment, only to return with a few water bottles and towel.

 

It dumped water on the towel. Hissing as some of the water hit it. It ignored the water and reached toward you.

 

You flinched back, scared of whatever it was doing.

 

The fire monster stopped. It watched you.

 

"I... Please, let me help you." it spoke. It waited patiently for you.  
After a minute you reached out your burnt hands, still shaking.

 

They hum and press the wet towel to your hands, pouring more water over it.

"I am sorry, human."

 

  
You allow it to take care the burns on your hands, you refused to let it touch your neck. It simply nodded and allowed you to take care of it.

 

  
It's a long silence. The monster has yet to leave, you suppose it kinda can't in the rain. It's a lot more dim now, fire low like it's about to go out.  
You think it, they, might feel bad.

  
You sigh and sink back into the cushions of the couch. Why can't you be like a normal person and kill? You run your hand through your hair.

 

"This is kinda awkward..." you say with a nervous smile. They give a breathy chuckle in return.

 

"...Why'd you stop?" You ask quietly, unsure if the monster even heard you.

 

"Your soul...it has no EXP, or LOVE." He answered.

 

"I have no idea what you're talking about..."

 

He nods slightly. "It means you've never killed. I wasn't aware that... I don't want to kill if I don't have to."

 

You finally relax. He probably thought you were trying to trick him.  
You take a deep breath and keep the damp towel to your neck. The burn isn't too bad.  
Well, at least he didn't do any damage that would kill you.

You tell him your name.

 

"Grillby." he says after.

 

You nod. "You can stay till the rain is gone if you want." you regret your life choices but you can't bring yourself to send him into what would hurt him.

 

"Aren't you afraid?" He asks.

 

"Terrified." you say, quite bluntly. "But i'm stupid and care about stupid things so you can't go outside and get hurt in the rain."

 

He's quiet. He stares at you a long moment. "Thank you." He finally says.

 

You feel exhaustion taking over you.

  
You try to stay awake, not wanting to trust this monster with to leave you be. However you can't fight it.  
Sleep takes over you.

 

* * *

 

 

Grillby watches you doze off. Ping of guilt aching in his chest. He sighs and gets up. Looking around the cabin until he finds what he's looking for.

 

A blanket.

 

He returns to you and covers you in it.

 

* * *

 

  
You dream of the hand from hell disappearing, instead, fire just consumes you. It's pleasant. It doesn't hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had actually rewrote half this chapter, it was much less fighting, Grillby didn't attack the reader.
> 
> http://ladyofcold.tumblr.com/post/138319010517/flames-of-armageddon-alternate-chapter-two
> 
> but
> 
> i was like "this is war! humans are horrible. Grillby's injured and panicked, let's have him assume the worst."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to grillbyz
> 
> would you like the grill or the bees?
> 
>  
> 
> -shameless self promotion- http://ladyofcold.tumblr.com/

You wake up later, back sore from sleeping on the couch at a weird angle.

 

You still hear rain outside.

 

The monster is probably still here.

 

You attempt to stretch and flinch at the pain of your hands and neck.  
Your hands look okay. They're burnt, but they'll heal soon enough.

 

You let out a whine as you get up, and head to to the washroom.

 

You look in the mirror and wince at your reflection. You look like shit.

 

A very noticeable hand print is burnt into your throat. Skin has blistered around the palm part, and the fingers are a nasty red.

 

You poke at it, tensing at the pain.  
You poke at it again.  
Why are you doing this?

  
You sigh and go to your room, taking all your medical supplies to the washroom and sifting through it.

 

You sigh, not really having much for burns. You didn't expect to be attacked by literal fire. You'll have to make do with what you have.

 

You clean your hands and neck to the best of your ability before wrapping yourself up in bandages. You'll look into going out and finding herbs later.

 

Maybe you could ask Cindy if they have anything for burns.

 

Then she'd ask how you got burnt.

 

You decide not to do that; you'll avoid your neighbors, till the monster is gone at least.

 

Maybe you could find some lavender.

 

You exit the washroom and are greeted by the scent of food cooking.

 

_...What?_

 

You head into the kitchen quickly. Cooking means fire, fire means smoke. Smoke is bad, you need to stop it.  
How is the stove even on?

 

You rush into the kitchen.

 

The monster, Grillby?

 

Grillby is cooking food.

 

"W-what are you doing? Smoke attracts people, people bad. stop."

 

You reach to touch his arm before flinching your hand back, fearing being burnt again. You remember he could still very much harm you.

 

The fire on his head flickers and dies low as he watches you. "I'm using magic, there is no smoke. Do not worry."

 

"Oh."

 

"I made breakfast." Grillby hands you a plate.

 

You're deeply confused but accept the food. As you stand in slight shock, your monster friend sits at the small table. After a moment, you decide you're just going to make your head hurt thinking about it and join him at the table.

 

"I have my own food supply, I did not take from yours."

 

You nod and take a bite, freezing at the taste.

 

"It's amazing..." you mumble., quickly eating more. You haven't eaten a proper meal in so long.  
You're jealous you can't cook like this.

 

You glance up to see Grillby staring at you. You raise an eyebrow at him. His flames growing lighter in colour. He quickly looks down and continues on his own food.

 

  
_That was weird._ The rest of your meal is uneventful. Sitting in silence with a monster.

 

You both stand up at the same time.

 

"I should-"

  
"I am-"

 

_This is awkward._

 

He nods at you. "You first."

 

"I should go check my traps... and stuff." you leave quickly. Moving the desk from the back door and running off.

 

 

Grillby watches you flee. He sighs and cleans the plates before returning them where he found them. He doubts you care about the mess, but he is a guest.

 

* * *

 

 

He retrieves his backpack from the counter, looking through it.  
Designed to hold a lot more then just what the size indicates, he starts going through his items.

 

He knows he doesn't have anything to help with a human injury, but he looks anyway just in case.  
He finds nothing.

 

He didn't plan to encounter a human he would be spending time with.

 

* * *

 

 

You rush out into the rain, it has let up somewhat but it's still cold. You didn't grab your coat.

 

You suppose you could go back and get it, but that's just awkward. You decide that you'll just move quickly, the cold rain feels nice on your burns anyway.

 

You get to working, running around getting checking your traps. Only one has a small mouse, it looks half eaten already so it's not safe to eat. The rest are either untouched or knocked over by something else with the bait gone. _Great._

 

You try and prolong going back to your cabin as long as you can, but in the end, there's little you can do short of getting sick. You sigh, defeated, before heading back.

 

"What you doing?"

 

You jump and turn around, grasping for your knife that wasn't there. It's in your coat.

 

_Stupid!_

 

You relax when you see a familiar boy. It's just Matt.

 

"Shit, kid. You scared me." you place your hand over your heart, trying to calm it.

 

"Sorry." He laughs, he doesn't seem too sorry. "I just saw you and wanted to say hi. What are you doing out in the rain?"

 

"What are you doing in the rain?" you smile and cross your arms.

 

"I asked you first."

 

"I'm older, I overrule you."

 

He whines. "That's not fair!"

 

"Life's not fair, dear Matty."

 

"I'm breaking the rules. I can't be contained!" he stands taller, buffing out his chest.

 

You nod, understanding the child rebel. Fight the power and then get the power explained again.

 

"What happened to you?" he asks. You're about to ask what he means when you remember the bandages on your hands and neck.

 

"I was attacked by evil space ninjas."

 

"Liar." he pouts and crosses his arms.

 

"They were also ghost pirates."

 

"Evil ghost ninja space pirates?"

 

"Yes."

 

"What really happened?"

 

"That is what happened, that's my story and I'm sticking to it." You give a small bow.

 

He whines at you. You just wave him off.

 

"Hush, go back home before I tell on you or the alien ghost ninja pirates get you."

 

"They're aliens now?"

 

"Well, they're from space. So why not? You shrug. "Now shoo."

 

"Blah!" Matt sticks out his tongue before running off.

 

You chuckle. What a brat.

 

* * *

 

 

Deciding you've wasted enough time in the cold you head back. You're clothes are wet and you really don't want to get sick.

 

You do feel better though, even if your traps didn't catch anything, Matt was a nice surprise.

 

You take a deep breath before entering the cabin.

 

"Honey, I'm home..." you think you spoke to quiet for anyone to hear you.

 

Now inside you realize how cold you are.

 

Grillby is sitting on the couch. He looks up at you, his flames flicker higher. He stands and approaches you. He moves too fast for you not to flinch away, taking a step back only to hit the door behind you.

 

The fire monster pauses in his movement. Dimming, he steps back to give you some space.  
You force yourself to relax. He's not hurting you. He's respecting your space.

 

"You're soaked."

 

You let out a breathy laugh. You keep your dirty joke to yourself, you're still scared of this guy.

 

So instead you nod. "I'm going to get get changed." you mumble.

 

You're grateful he steps out of your way, giving you space.

 

* * *

 

 

You head to the bedroom, getting some new clothes. You remove your bandages and set them aside to dry.

  
You lay down on your bed. A small nap wouldn't hurt but you remember the monster downstairs. While he seems to be okay, you don't want to let your guard down to find him on top of you again.

 

You sigh and head back to the main room, sitting down across from the monster.

 

"So..." you try. "Do-... are there going to be others coming to look for you that I need to worry about?"

 

Grillby shakes his head. "I am alone."

 

"Okay, that's good. Good for me, I mean. I don't really want to be attacked."

 

"You seem to live here alone."

 

"Yeah, I've been alone for a long time." you shrug. "It's nice having the neighbors though."

 

"I didn't get to say what I wanted to earlier." he says. That's right, you kind of ran off, didn't you?

 

"Oh, yeah. S-sorry, what was it?" you lean back into the couch. Grillby seems much more relaxed then you do.

 

"I am sorry."

 

You blink. "W-what?"

 

"I am sorry I have hurt you."

 

 _Oh._ "O-oh... no it's fine, you know. I'm a dangerous human, you were already hurt. There's this whole war thing going on. I get it." you slump back, somehow you relax a little. "You stopped before you killed me..."

 

You stay quiet a second. "How are you, by the way? You looked in pain when you came in."

 

"I'm fine, thank you. It's already healed."

 

You sit up suddenly, this time Grillby jumps. _Whoops._ "Wait really? How?"

 

He chuckles and relaxes again. "Humans are more physical then Monsters, our whole being is our soul and magic. I healed while you were asleep. I can't heal you because I attacked your body, not your soul. Most monsters will attack your soul."

 

"Why didn't you?" You asked.

 

He sighs. "I have learned that if you take down a humans physical form first, they'll be... Distracted. They won't react as fast to protect their soul and are easier to take down."

 

"That's kinda cool." _and really scary._ "So, when you stopped, that's when you saw my soul?"

 

He nods. "If you had LOVE I would of killed you."

 

"Well shit." you're not quite sure how to respond that. "LOVE was that killing thing, right?"

 

He nods.

 

"Well, I guess for once I'm glad I can't make myself hurt someone." you let out a breathy laugh, it's not really that funny.

 

"Why would you want to hurt someone?" he's staring at you now.

 

"I don't know... Everyone else can do it? This isn't the first time I've been hurt badly because I couldn't fight. Pretty weak if I can't defend myself against someone trying to kill me, right?"

 

His stare softens. Flames turning a lighter colour. "I find it admirable."

 

This surprises you. You watch his expression for any type of lie, it doesn't help much since all he has are eyes.

 

"You've managed to survive this long without any violence staining your soul. You've been hurt but you haven't let that lead you to hurt anyone else." he pauses. "That seems quite strong to me."

 

"Oh." you're not sure what to say. You've never thought yourself as strong. You pull your legs up on the couch and hug them, resting your head on top of your knees. "Thank you."

 

"Of course. Would you like to eat dinner now? I can get started on cooking." He stands slowly, as to not scare you again.

 

"You can if you want, I only really eat once a week. Don't worry about me." you wave him off.

 

He stands there in silence, staring down at you. His eyes widened. "Only once a week?" He mumbles.

 

"What?"

 

"Aren't humans suppose to eat more then that?"

 

"Well, yeah but-"

 

"You only eat once a week? No wonder you had little strength, you don't eat enough to keep it up. How could you... not even monsters should go that long." he almost seems offended by you're eating habits.

 

"Grillby." he ignores you.

 

"You actually do seem rather small in size, how long have you eaten like this? How do you keep your energy up?"

 

"Firefuck." you try Cindy's nickname. He continues.

 

You stop listening to his rant. You get the feeling this guy may of been a cook or something.

 

You try to get his attention again. "Grill and or bee."

 

It works! He pauses to look at you, confused by the name you just gave him. You shrug. "If it bothers you that much you can make something, if it's as good as breakfast i'll probably at least try to eat."

 

His flames glow lighter. He nods and heads to the kitchen.

 

You chuckle. He's almost not completely terrifying now.

 

You must of dozed off a bit because when you come to there's a plate on your lap. You glance at the fire monster next to you.

 

"You have a bed to sleep on." he says.

 

You stretch and sit up, careful not to tip over your food.

 

"You can have the bed. You're bigger then me." you take a bite of your meal. It's amazing.

 

Grillby simply nods and eats with you. The silence is comfortable for once.

 

You don't finish all your dinner, he doesn't push you to. "I'm glad you at least tried." He says.

 

* * *

 

 

You're wasting time doing nothing when Grillby approaches you again. You're nearly falling asleep but you jolt awake when he reaches for you, scared of being burnt.

 

He doesn't touch you, he just holds out his hand for you. You watch him closely.

 

"I'm not going to harm you. I cannot without the intent to hurt you. I'm safe to touch, you don't need to be afraid." he says calmly.

 

You stare at his hand. You want to believe him. You try to reach out but pause before making contact. You can feel the heat coming off him. You're too scared of being hurt. You pull your hand back.

 

"I can't." you whisper.

 

He pulls his hand away. His fire low and dim.

 

"That's okay, thank you for trying."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tame chapter yay, this may be a theme, calm, violence, calm violence. you know.
> 
>  
> 
> not sure if i'm overly happy with this chapter but it is pretty sweet.
> 
> i also may of been half asleep while writing one part so i'm very sorry to MissyLeyneous who's like fixing up grammar and stuff, so sorry.


	4. Chapter 4

The fire surrounding you shields you from the outside world.

 

Slowly it fades, allowing you to look around. There are familiar faces watching you. The fire retreats behind you.

 

When you turn you see a burning path. It leads away from the familiar people. You don't walk it.

 

You want to stay.

 

The familiar people smile.

 

You hear the screaming of someone you could of loved.

 

You try to look but a familiar person stops you. They say something you don't hear.

 

* * *

 

  
You're eyes open. You're laying in bed. Weird. You didn't fall asleep here.

 

You remember telling Grillby to take the bed. Did he put you here?

 

How rude... And sweet.

 

You get up and stretch. Your neck really stings. You put the bandages back on and head to the main room.

 

Grillby is already awake.

 

"Do you even sleep?" you say, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

 

He chuckles and nods.

 

"I thought I told you to take the bed." you flop down on the couch.

 

He flames light a bit, turning into a light shade of red. "Yes, you did. I had moved you when you seemed to become restless in your sleep. I am sorry for moving you without permission."

 

You nod and wave him off. "It's fine... Thanks for caring."

 

"The rain has lightened. I should be able to leave now without much harm."

 

"Much?"

 

"It won't do any real damage."

 

You sit up. "So, are you leaving now?"

 

"If you don't mind. I would prefer to stay another night so that I could leave when the sun is rising tomorrow."

 

You nod. "Yeah, you're welcome to stay, you keep the bed tonight, I have the couch no matter what dream."

 

Grillby's squint slightly, his fire glows brightly and yellow. You think this is him smiling.

 

"Hey, do you have a mouth?" you blurt about before you think. "I-I mean, I know you've eaten in front of me but I wasn't really paying attention."

 

He seems taken back by the sudden question. "I- yes, I have one. I am simply not comfortable with showing it all the time."

 

"Oh, yeah. I get it, I was just wondering. Sorry." You sink back into the couch. You shouldn't ask about people's physical appearance, that's rude.

 

"Shall I go make you-" Grillby is cut off but a knock on the door.

 

You both freeze.

 

_Shit._

 

You jump up. "Go to the bedroom, stay there."

 

He listens and retreats into the rooms. You put your hand over your chest to try and calm your heart.

 

There's another knock.

 

"______? Ya in there?"

 

_It's Cindy. Okay, just Cindy._

 

You rush to move the desk out of the way of the door. You open it with more force then necessary and lean against the frame. _Smooth_.

 

"Hey."

 

She blinks at you. "Hi."

 

You two are quiet for a bit. She's looking at your bandages.

 

"You caught Matt, didn't you?" you sink down a bit.

 

She chuckles and nods. "Yeah, said something 'bout ninjas and god knowin' your lies."

 

"Ghost ninja pirates from space that also may be aliens."

 

"That's alotta things to be."

 

"It was an intense battle." you shrug.

 

"C'mon, let me in and tell me what actually happened, friend." She doesn't actually give you the choice and pushes past you. Taking a seat at the kitchen table.

 

"It's fine. Nothing happened." You sit across from her.

 

"If it was nothing you wouldn't have bandages." She stood and moved to you. Let me help ya."

 

"You're not going to be happy." you try to sink into yourself.

 

"I'm already unhappy."

 

You sigh and undo the bandages on your hands, purposely leaving your neck covered.

 

"Holy lord almighty... darling how'd ya do this?" She takes your hands in hers. You try hard not to flinch at the contact. She looks at you concerned before getting a serious look. "Show me your neck." She demands.

 

You avoid her eyes, looking off to the side. "I don't really think-"

 

"______."

 

You swallow the lump in your throat. "Promise not to freak out."

 

"I promise nothing."

 

You sigh. Unraveling the bandage on your neck, letting her see the burnt hand mark in your skin.

 

She's frozen for a moment. Eyes blank.

 

"W h a t h a p p e n e d ?" Her voice low.

 

"Nothing-"

 

"Tell me."

 

"It's not-"

 

"Now."

 

You look at your hands. "T-that fire monster attacked me."

 

She slaps you, not very hard. Still stings though.

 

"You didn't come to us?!" She yelled

"It was storming."

 

"It could of killed ya!"

 

"It didn't."

 

"Why- ya just- UGH"

 

She pulls you into a hug. You tense. You weren't expecting this. She pulls away and glares at you again.

 

"I am going to get somethin' for those burns and when I get back ya better have one hell of a story to tell me or i'm kicking your ass, ya hear me?"

 

You nod, not wanting to upset her more.

 

"Good, I'll be back in a bit."

 

* * *

 

 

She knows. She knows.

 

The thought nags in your head. You've stayed too long.

 

The moment she walks out the door you start packing. You call out to Grillby.

 

"Get you're stuff, we're leaving." you tell him as he exits the bedroom.

 

You rush past him, collecting your items, shoving them into your bag.

 

You turn to him. "Well? Come on, we only have about fifteen minutes before she gets there and we don't want to run into them on their way back."

 

Grillby leaves you after that.

 

You fill your bag, grabbing your knifes and lining your jacket once again. You've wasted maybe ten minutes, five minutes to spare. That should give you about twenty minutes to put as much distance as you can between yourself and Cindy.

 

You head to the main room. Grillby is waiting.

 

"We're going to be running, we don't have a whole lot of time." You mumble and lead the monster out your backup exit.

 

* * *

 

  
The rain as finally stopped.

 

You get tired before Grillby does or he's better at hiding it. He tries to get you to rest multiple times but you can't stop moving. You didn't survive this long by resting.

 

When you finally stop it's because Grillby grabs your backpack and stops, keeping it away from you.

 

"You need a break." He says.

 

"I haven't collapsed yet, I can-" you try to grab it again. "-keep going."

 

He holds it above his head, out of your reach. "No."

 

You refuse to jump for it like a child. "Ugh! Fine."

 

He leads you off to the side. Placing both his and your bags down.

 

Your body calms from the rush you were feeling. Now just leaving a sickness in your stomach. You move off a bit away from where Grillby is resting. He watches you as you hunch over and empty the contents of your stomach.

 

He's to your side in a second. He places a hand on your shoulder but recoils it back when you flinch.

 

"M'fine." You mumble.

 

"Are you sure?" he asks. You hear the concern in his voice, it just makes you more sick.  
You heave but it seems there isn't much left.

 

"This happens, it's fine." You wipe your mouth with your sleeve. He retreats back to your bags. He opens yours, you go to tell him off when he pulls out a water bottle, bring it to you. "Oh...Thanks..."

 

You drink, the water cooling your throat.

 

Once you feel like your not going to throw up again you go and sit by your bag. You finally feel your exhaustion.

 

Grillby sits a distance away from you.

 

"Can you tell me what happened?" he asks. "Why did you leave?"

 

You sigh, running your hand through your hair. "One of the people from that group saw the burns. She knew, she knew. I should of moved on a long time ago, I got too comfortable. God, I'm stupid."

 

"How did she know?"

 

"I don't know, she just did, if she didn't she would of found out. We had to leave together or..." You trail off.

 

If you continued he would question.

 

You hug your knees and hide your face. You're stupid. You gave up a safe place for some monster.

 

You remember your dream.

 

You sigh again. You're tired.

 

You jump when something is placed over you.

 

It's a blanket.

 

You look up at Grillby. He pulls the blanket over you. His fire is a light yellow, burning brightly.

 

"Relax for a bit. I'll make you something to eat."

 

You groan. "I might just throw it up again."

 

"That's fine."

 

"That's a waste of food."

 

"You're going to eat something." he starts getting what he needs out of his bag.

 

You whine. "I'm not hungry."

 

He ignores you. You give up and lay down. You wonder if maybe he finds comfort in making food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to have this done sooner but I've been sick and it really sucks.
> 
> Anyway, here we have this bullarky
> 
> Next chapter I hope is going to be much better, with things happening and stuff.
> 
>  
> 
> http://ladyofcold.tumblr.com/


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rats, sickness, magic bags, and death.
> 
> All in Grillbae's POV kinda sorta

You had offered Grillby to travel with you for a bit. He was reluctant at first but agreed. When he had asked why you simply shrugged and told him you had a feeling and winked, leaving him confused.

 

You were searching through a small shop across from a gas station. Grillby standing outside at your command, saying you work better without eyes watching you.

 

You were strange. Four days since you and him ran from the safety of your cabin. Grillby had noticed odd things about you.

  
It seems you had the habit of pushing yourself past what was healthy for any human Grillby had known. You tried to convince him you didn't need to eat everyday to. At first he didn't believe you but yesterday you had gotten sick and told him you weren't going to eat anymore until you decided to.  
Grillby didn't push this morning for you to eat.

 

Despite how much you slept in the cabin, out here you got so little sleep. You were awake before him. The first day you even made the comment "You do sleep!"

 

Grillby is interrupted from his thoughts with a loud sound coming from inside the small store.

 

"I'm okay!" You yell out.

 

He heads inside. Seeing a stand knocked over next to you.  
You doubled over panting with your knife out. It's dripping with a bit of blood. As Grillby approach you wave him off.

 

"It's nothing." you stand up straight. "Jesus, that scared me." You place a hand over your heart.

 

Sensing Grillby's confusion you turn to him.

 

"This giant ass rat jumped out at me." you wipe your knife clean on your jacket. "It ran off. C'mon, we should go. If there's one there's more and I don't wanna be swarmed."

 

You exit the store quickly. Grillby following in tow.

 

"Did you find anything?" Grillby asks.

 

You frown. "Yeah, not much but it's something. There were some cans of food but they were bloated so I left them but..." you take off your bag, pulling out a pack of sugar. You grin up at him.

 

Grillby is silent for a moment. Trying to figure out what's so great about sugar. You're smile fades and you fake offense.

 

"Sugar is amazing." you shove the pack back into your bag.

 

"I suppose?"

 

You point at him. "One: sugar is sweet and tastes amazing." you hold up two fingers. "Two: sugar helps clot blood. It stings like hell but it stops the bleeding." You add another finger. "Three: I can make a bomb out of sugar."

 

"A bomb?" Grillby wonders why someone like you would need a bomb. Hopefully he doesn't need to find out.

 

You smirk up at him and nod. "A bomb."

 

* * *

 

 

Grillby noticed you slowing down. Your skin looking clammy and flushed.

 

When your pace noticeably slowed he decided to speak up.

 

"We should take a rest." he stops walking. Looking back at you.

 

You glance at him. "No, the town is only an hour away." And continue to walk past him.

 

"You don't look well."

 

He hears you laugh. "Thanks, you too."

 

He stops walking with you. He stands in place as you look back at him.

 

You sigh. "Come on. I know you think your helping but we need to get to that town. I can rest after we get there." You stare at him with pleading eyes.

 

Why did you need to be there?  
He chooses not to ask. He doesn't feel any ill intent from you.

 

Grillby catches up to you. "Give me your bag."

 

"Grillb-" he cuts you off by raising his hand.

 

"At least let me carry it for you." he holds out his hand for it. You get tense when he reaches out but calm when his hand stays still, waiting.

 

You shift on your feet. "Is this debatable?" you look up at him.

 

Grillby shakes his head. "No."

 

You stare at him. Waiting to see if he'll falter.  
He doesn't.

 

You sigh and take off your bag, handing it to him. You watch him take off his backpack and put yours inside.

 

He puts his backpack back on and glances at you. You're eyes are wide.

 

"How in the..." You run your hand through your hair. "Woah."

 

Grillby remembers humans don't have magic items like monsters did. You've probably never even seen dimensional box before. He chuckles, fire getting brighter.

 

You flush. "Don't laugh! How did you do that? My bag is almost bigger then yours!"

 

He forces down his laughter. "It's a gift from my friend. The contents of the bag aren't actually in the bag itself. It can only fit a few things but as long as I can get it in the bag it doesn't matter the size." he explained. You didn't seem to grasp it.

 

"That doesn't make sense." you confirm his thoughts.

 

"Magic or Science." He shrugs. "Maybe both? It's hard to tell when it comes to Sans."

 

You start walking again. Grillby joins beside you.

 

"Sans?"

 

"Sans is the friend that gave me the pack." Grillby says, fixing his backpack to sit properly again.

 

"Are they made of fire too?" You tease.

 

Grillby chuckles. "No, he's a Skeleton."

 

You rise your brow. "A skeleton?"

 

"A Skeleton." Grillby says. Copying your answer to when he questioned the bomb.

 

You stuck your tongue out at him and walks quicker.

 

Grillby laughed to himself and allowed you your space.

 

* * *

 

 

You're progressively getting worse. You refused to stop even while you were panting.

 

Grillby's progressively getting more worried.

 

* * *

 

 

Finally you're outside the town. You're sweating and pale.

 

"Will you rest-" Grillby is cut off by you hushing him.

 

You keep your finger to your lips and head into the small town.

 

Grillby notices your hand on your knife. You're on watch for others, he understands now. He follows behind you silently. Keeping on alert. You're not in the condition to fight.

 

You stop waving for him to come and point to a building across the street.

 

_Farlin drugstore and pharmacy?_

 

"Wait outside." You whisper and run ahead.

 

Grillby runs behind you. "That's probably not a good-" He's interrupted with you shushing him.

 

He sparks a bit. Grillby's getting annoyed with your behavior. He backs down though, he'll ask about this later.

 

You leave the door open behind you.

 

Grillby sighs and waits outside as you said.

 

* * *

 

  
Grillby has five minutes before he's aware of the eyes watching him.  
He focused his magic. Four human souls. One yours.

 

Three humans. Two in the ally way beside the pharmacy. Third hiding behind a building across the street.

 

One in the alley way continues walking down the ally. The other stays hidden. Probably to watch him.

 

Grillby freezes. The soul in the alley enters the pharmacy. There must of been another door.

 

He doesn't waste time. He rushes to the alley. The third human rushes at him when his back is turned. He turns fast. Gripping the wrist of a woman with a machete. He snaps her wrist. Blade falling to the ground. Grillby slams her face first into the ground. Stepping on her back. He brings out her soul and swarms it in fire.

 

Grillby doesn't hear the screams anymore.

 

Soul three is scattered.

 

The second soul in the alley is still.

 

Grillby is calm. Emotions turned off. He heads to the alley.

 

A teenager with a gun and LV.

 

Age doesn't matter. Grillby is on them before the shock of watching their friend die wears off. He has them in his grasp. He shoves his arm. Gun firing only to hit the building uselessly. He grips their throat and burns. Fire raging.

 

He tosses the body away and stares down the second soul. He blasts it with fire.

 

The second soul shatters. One remains.

 

Grillby enters through the back door.

 

You're leaning against the far wall. First soul holding their arm. Another woman.

 

You're knife has blood, you're panting and holding out your hand. "We don't need to fight." you say breathlessly.

 

The woman doesn't say anything. Grillby doesn't wait for her too. He grabs the back of her neck and slams her to the ground. She turns on her back and kicks him off before he can react she runs. Grillby sends a blast of flames at her. She cries out as her back is burnt.

 

You grab his arm. You say something but all he can hear is a loud ringing. He doesn't look at you as he shoves you away.

 

He doesn't hear the crash.

 

The woman is stumbling out the door. He's after in seconds. He kicks her legs.

 

He doesn't hear the crunching of bone anymore.

 

She's saying something. Grillby pulls her soul out. The second soul had more LV then her.

 

The first soul is shattered.

 

Sound returns and feeling. Grillby takes a shuttering breath. His EXP gets higher. He takes a minute to calm down before he heads inside.

 

You're collapsed against a stand. He rushes to you. You're breathing fast and your eyes are closed.

 

"______." He looks over you. He doesn't see any injuries. There's nothing new that would make like this.

 

Suddenly it clicks.

 

Humans don't heal like monsters do. You were tired and sickly. You needed medicine.

 

He takes the bandages off your neck and hands and look at the burns.

 

The burns he gave you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't look at me
> 
> I'm sorry
> 
> This was suppose to be done forever ago
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoyed even though it was little rushed


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hand touch.

The cold fades and is replaced by warmth. All the pain in your body slowly fades away. You hadn't even realized you were in pain.

 

This feels like one of your dreams yet you're aware.

You've never had a lucid dream before.

 

You're eyes are closed. You try to open them but they're too heavy.

 

_What's happening?_

 

You try to say something but it only comes out as a mumble. A pressure is against your forehead. You listen to the mumble of someone talking.

 

You can't focus on the words but they're calming. You let yourself rest.

 

* * *

 

 

You're eyes finally open.

 

Only to close again at a blinding light. You groan and cover your eyes.

 

You sit up suddenly. Remembering the events before you passed out.

 

"______?"

 

You jump and look at Grillby. He's staring at you. Flames low and a dim blue. "H-hey."

 

He noticeably relaxes. Fire returning to the normal brightness. He sits on the floor, leaning against the couch you were on.

 

_Couch?_

 

You look around. You're in what looks to be a living room. A broken TV across from you. Stairs off to the left of you.

 

You sit properly. "Where are we?"

 

"A farm, not far from the town we were in." Grillby answers quietly. He looks tired, as tired as fire can look. "I've never been a good healer. I believed you weren't going to wake up."

 

He healed you?  
You look at your hands. They were fine. Unburnt with no pain, not infected anymore. You touch your neck. It doesn't hurt either but you can feel the difference in the skin. It's probably scarred.

 

Grillby had saved you.

 

You thought he would leave you to die but he saved you.

 

"______?" he looks over at you. You turn away from him.

 

_How many people would of left you to die?_

 

"Why are you crying? What's wrong?" Grillby gets back up.

 

Are you crying? You wipe your eyes. Yes. You are crying. You giggle. _This is stupid, when did you start believing everyone would want you dead?_

 

"Why are you laughing?" you reaches for you but pauses and pulls back his hand. "______?"

 

You wave him off. "M'fine." you pull up your shirt and rub your face clean. "Thank you..."

 

"For what?"

 

 _For what? He says._ Did he really not even think twice about helping you? You can't stop your laughter.

 

You look at him. He's staring at you, eyes showing his confusion.

 

You calm yourself down. Choking down your laughter. "Y-you saved me. Thank you."

 

Grillby gets brighter, his flames getting a red hue. "Oh, yes. Of course."

 

You lean back on the couch. Grillby sits next to you, his head leaning back.

 

"You seem tired."

 

Grillby nods. "I'm not much of a healer."

 

You stand up and stretch. "You should get some sleep. Where's your pack?"

He waves off to the right and lays down. You find the bag discarded on the floor.

 

You open the backpack and reach in, finding the grip of your own bag. You pull it out. Watching the too long bag coming out of the backpack makes you uncomfortable.

 

You open your bag. "Hey, Grillby. Want a blanket?"

 

You get no answer. You go over to the couch and find the fire monster already passed out. You watch him for a moment. His fire moving slowly and calm. You realize you're being weird and toss the blanket over him.

 

* * *

 

 

You start blocking off the house. Covering windows and blocking doors on the first floor. You head upstairs.

 

First door is a bedroom. It's nearly empty. You close the curtains.

 

Second room is another bedroom. It's a mess, items littered and knocked over. It looks like someone put up a fight here. You pick up the knocked over curtains off the ground and place them back to the window. You close them.

 

Third and final room is a washroom. You jump at the sight before you. There's a body in the tub. It's face covered with the shower curtains. It smells horrible. You close the door and head back downstairs.

 

You get your bag and shift through the contents until you find a tube of bright red lipstick. You head back to the washroom and use the lipstick as a marker.

 

 **BODY INSIDE**  
**RIP**

 

Hopefully this will help someone avoid the unpleasant sight.

 

* * *

 

 

With the house secured you return to the living room. Grillby's still asleep. You sigh.

 

You get to scavenging.

 

* * *

 

 

You sit by the window by the front door. Peeking out the window. There's nothing really to do. The sun was going down. You suppose you could try to sleep but for once you feel well rested. Almost energetic, you don't understand it so you're just going to blame magic.

  
You were pretty stupid. You should of taken care of your burns. Maybe you could of asked for help from Grillby sooner.  
No, you didn't trust him. You still don't, just because he saved you doesn't mean he's not going to leave. He's still a monster.

  
You remember the pharmacy. You could feel danger radiating from the fire monster. When you tried to stop him, he shoved you away. Did he kill that woman? You can't remember what happened after that.

 

Maybe he let her go. _Yeah, he was probably distracted by you at the very least._

 

That's how you piece it together. You stopped him and he pushed you away. He realized what he did and helped you. Letting the woman go.

 

You're not very good at convincing yourself. You'll ask him what happened later.

 

* * *

 

 

You're caught up in your thoughts. Before you know it, the sun has set and it's dark out. You sigh.  
Grillby doesn't like traveling at night. It makes sense since because he's quite literally a beacon in the dark.

 

You block off the window again and return to the living room. Grillby sits up as you approach.

 

You lean over the back of the couch. "Good evening sunshine."

 

He hums. "I see you barricaded the house."

 

You nod. "There's a dead guy upstairs, don't go in the washroom."

 

His flames flicker, and he moves his legs so a spots open on the couch. You jump over the back and sit by him.

 

"Are you okay?" Grillby asks.

 

"Yeah, I'm pretty good actually." You smile up at him.

 

"I'm glad."

 

You two fall into a silence.

 

You break it first. "Thank you."

 

He chuckles. "You already thanked me, ______."

 

"Thank you again then, I honestly didn't think..." You trail off. Probably not the nicest thing to say.

 

Grillby seems to understand though. He nods. "You're welcome."

 

"Really though. Thank you. I really owe you." You run your fingers through your hair.

 

"I'm the one who caused them in the first place." Grillby spoke. "You still have the scar."

 

"But that's not really your fault. I'm a scary human." You shrug.

 

Grillby chuckles. "Terrifying."

 

"You're still pretty scary if I'm honest." You frown when he dims and looks away. "But you know, you don't seem very bad at all."

 

He glances at you. Fire glowing brighter. You give him a small smile.

 

He tosses your blanket over your head.

 

"Oh. Okay." You sit in the darkness and listen to Grillby laugh. You can't help but giggle with him.

 

Soon under the blanket becomes too stuffy and you have to move out from under it.

 

"Okay, I have to ruin this now." You sink back into the couch.  
Grillby looks at you, waiting for you.

 

"What happened after I passed out?"

 

"I carried you to this house and used magic to heal you. You were out for about and hour or two." Grillby tells you.

 

You nod and hum. "I mean like... you looked pretty- What happened to that girl?"

 

"I let her go to have more time to escape with you." He says. He's looking directly at your eyes.

 

You believe him.

 

"Okay." You laugh a bit. "Sorry, it's stupid to care about people like that but I just- you know."

 

"That's good."

 

You look at him.

Grillby leans forward in he seat. "It's good that you still care. There are many these days that have given up that part of them."

 

You shrug. "I think we've had this talk before or something like it."

 

"I believe we have, haven't we?" He pauses for a moment. "It's still true though. I haven't seen a human like you in quite awhile."

 

You don't question what he means. He's trying to make you feel better and it's maybe working better then you'd like to admit.  
Maybe you should return the favor.

 

"Hey, you know what sounds good right now?" You lean a bit closer. "Food."

 

He perks up a bit. "Should I make us something to eat?"

 

You can't help but smile and nod. His flames grow taller and turn a bright yellow. He grabs his backpack. You point him to where the kitchen is and he heads there immediately.

 

You lean back on the couch. Letting Grillby do his thing.

 

* * *

 

 

When Grillby returns you've taken to sitting upside down on the couch, thinking once again about yourself.

 

You decide that you should at least have this monster believe you trust him.

 

You sit up right again and take the plate Grillby is offering you.

 

While you're not hungry, you eat anyway since you did ask for it.

 

Grillby sits next to you and eats.

 

"You're a good chef." you mutter. He glances at you. "Especially since you can make something good in the apocalypse."

 

He chuckles at you. "It's not quite the end of the world yet."

 

You shrug and continue eating.

 

You guess there's still hope for the world. You're getting off track though. You finish your food quickly, you notice he gave you less then him which your thankful for.  
You sit quietly and wait him to finish.

 

When Grillby does, he takes your plate and returns to the kitchen.  
You take the moment he's gone to calm your nerves.

 

_This is stupid, you're going to regret this._

 

That little voice in your head says.

 

He comes back with his backpack and sets it beside yours.

 

"Hey Grillby?"

 

He looks at you. You choke down your fear.

 

"You said before that- uh, that your fire only burns if you intend for it too, right?" You guess that's obvious by now, he's carried you a few times now and you've been perfectly fine.

 

"Yes, why?" He stands tall and approaches you.

 

You hold out your hand. "Want to do that trust exercise thing?" you force a smile. You're about to touch fire, _this is stupid._

 

Grillby dims. "It's fine, ______. You don't have too."

 

You don't budge. Keeping your hand extended for him.

 

"I know you're still frightened. I'm not offended, it's normal for humans and even some monsters to fear fire." his voice is calm. He's giving you a way out of you back down.

 

"Grillby, take my god damn hand."

 

He seems surprised at that but he nods.

 

Slowly he takes your hand, giving you time to pull away should you choose. You don't but you can't help but tense when he touches you, expecting to be burnt even though you know you won't.

 

He takes your hand, holding it gently. Grillby's watching you closely.

 

It doesn't burn, you let yourself relax. He really didn't hurt you.

 

His hand is warm and almost soft?  
He's solid unlike how you would imagine fire to be. You suppose that makes sense. He isn't an actual fire, he's a monster made of magic or whatever.

 

Grillby kneels down in front of you, looking you in the eyes.

 

"Thank you." He says.

 

"You're really soft, it's kinda weird." You say without thinking.

 

He starts laughing. You take your hand back a little embarrassed.

 

You can't help but laugh with him.

 

For once you don't regret not listening to your instinct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehehe hand touching
> 
> But Yay! It didn't take me forever to update for once! I did a good
> 
> I'm kinda actually a bit happy with this one but unfortunately I didn't plan ahead after this chapter so yeah...


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is fast and kinda shitty and im sorry

You're running.

 

You can't stop, something is holding your hand and dragging you with it.

 

You're not scared of it. You're not scared of what your running from.

 

What are you running from?

 

You look back. A storm follows close behind you. Thunder roaring loudly and lightning flashing.  
It is actually dangerous?

 

You look forward to the thing holding your hand. The fire. The person, a man.

 

A person of fire.

 

The storm is closing in. Surrounding you both. The man stops running. His grip on your hand tightens to the point it aches. The storm circling. Thunder deafening.

 

It's blocked out soon enough, fire engulf the two of you. Making a barrier. The person turns, placing a hand on your shoulder.

 

"Wake up"

 

* * *

 

 

"______, wake up."

 

You open your eyes. Grillby is gently shaking your arm. You hum and sit up.

 

"There are people coming." Grillby grabs his backpack.

 

"The storm." You mumble. No, it's probably not it. Dreams don't normally happen that fast.  
Then again you haven't been sleeping to know.

 

"What storm?"

 

You look up. Shit, you said it out loud. "N-nothing, don't worry about it. We need to move quickly." You stand and go to grab your bag but it's not there. "Wha-"

 

"I have it in my backpack again." Grillby tells you. You're annoyed it took it but you suppose you'll move faster and longer without its weight.

 

You move the barricade blocking one of the windows. You don't want to waste time trying to unblock the door. You jump out and Grillby follows behind.

 

"They're coming from the town." he pauses an mutters something.

 

You don't care to ask what. You start for the road. You run, Grillby keeps pace next to you.

 

"They're catching up." Grillby takes your arm and runs faster. You stumble a bit but manage to keep up. "They're are some up ahead. They planned to block us off."

 

Grillby slows down, letting go of your hand. "Stay close to me." You nod.

 

You stay behind him. He runs straight forward. It's getting warmer. His steps are leaving flame, the sides of the path are starting to catch fire.

 

You're right beside farms, the fields are going to catch flame. "Grillby stop!" He matches forward, ignoring you.

 

Suddenly he dashes ahead. Leaving you behind. You catch up to see him throw someone into another.  
The over grown fields light. Dry and burning fast.  
You rush to Grillby. His fists flaming as he approaches the two humans he just knocked down.

 

He's going to kill them.

 

You try to run, to get away from him and the humans and not care but you can't, you can't just let someone die. You grab his arm. It burns for only a second before the flames die down. The two humans flee.

 

Grillby almost tries to chase after them but you keep your grip. You refuse to look at his face. Flinching when he puts his hand on your head but you calm when it doesn't hurt and remains there gently.

 

"The field is on fire. We should go before I burn." you say. Your voice is shaking.

 

Grillby jumps at the sound of someone yelling. He pulls back a bit. "Don't hurt them." You whisper. "Just block the path."

 

Grillby waves his hand, fire growing higher and blocking the people from the other side.

 

"Don't shoot!" a familiar voice says. You look up. You can't see through the fire. You don't have enough time to really try. Grillby grabs your hand and runs.

 

You thought you heard someone shout your name but you keep going. Ignoring it and running with the mother that has your hand.

 

* * *

 

 

Two days. 48 hours shifting between walking and running before you're too tired and listen when Grillby tells you to take a break. He's silent most of the travel. Only speaking quietly to suggest you take a break.

  
He didn't protest when you wanted to travel at night either.

 

You get your bag back and set up a small camp hidden in the trees a bit a ways from the road.

 

Small camp means you lay a blanket down and collapse on it.

 

Grillby huffs. "You wouldn't be as tired if you listened to me and rested." You flip him the bird. "What are you doing?"

 

You glance at him. "You don't know what this means?"

 

He shakes his head no. You chuckle to yourself and wave him off, burying your face in your arms.

 

"God, you burnt that whole field..."

 

"Yes, I wasn't aware until it already started." Grillby sits by you. He sighs.

 

You give a breathy laugh. "Like everything in life."

 

You close your eyes and tap your finger against the ground. You focus on the tapping to stay awake. You won't sleep in the open.

 

"You can sleep you know."

 

You shake your head. "It's too open, we should be ready to move at anytime if something comes."

 

"I'll stay awake for you." Grillby puts his hand on your head. You force yourself not to tense.

 

"You're scary when I leave you to your own devices." You joke.  
Except you're not really kidding.

 

Grillby hums in reply. You keep tapping the ground.

 

After a bit Grillby moves his hand from your head and takes yours, stopping your tapping.

 

"You shit..." You mumble. You don't pull your hand away. His is warm and soft.

 

"I'm making you breakfast in the morning."

 

You sigh. "We gotta talk about stuff later."

 

Grillby is silent.

 

You tap with your other hand.

 

 

 

The storm follows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried, I mostly just wanted to get by this fast and I think it showed because next chapter is gonna be all talking and im excited to write the reader and Grillby talking about the past
> 
> Also thank you so much MissyLeyneous I probably would of been stuck here forever without you ideas
> 
> I'm sorry


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picture Perfect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starts out at Grillbz pov but switches to readers a bit in

Grillby sits silently, holding your hand tightly.

 

For more then just to stop your tapping. Although that plan didn't work well, you had begin tapping with your other hand. He didn't stop you.

 

He and you sat in silence most of the night. Grillby was left to his thoughts.

  
_You brought him back._

 

He glances at you. Your eyes were closed but your finger was still tapping.

 

You were a novelty. A human without LV or EXP.

 

One who wouldn't just watch someone die.

 

With a monster who can kill without a second thought.

 

Yet you managed to stop him.

 

_Could kill you so easily._

 

He stomps that thought out quickly. He will not lose himself to violence.

 

Grillby sighs. He didn't miss war.

 

He jumps when a small bit of water flick against his hand. He looks up to the sky.

 

It's snowing. Snow flakes floating down gently, most melting before they touch him.

 

He let's himself get warmer. "It's snowing."

 

You hum. "That sucks..." You mumble as you curl in on yourself. You let him keep your hand.

 

"I like it, it reminds me of home."

 

"Why would you live with snow, it's just cold water..." You did have a point.

 

Grillby chuckles. "Because I had the hottest bar in town." _Sans would be proud._

 

You snort and turn to lay on your back. You look up at him. "You had a bar?"

 

He nods.

 

"Alcohol is flammable..." You rub your eyes with your free hand.

 

"I am very skilled."

 

You laugh. You glance up at him. He could see the darkness under your eyes. Grillby never understood how humans work like that.

 

Your smile fades and you yawn. "First snow... It's gonna get cold soon and we'll leave more obvious tracks, and things are going to get buried under snow, and things are going to freeze." You slide your hand through your hair. "Winter is the worse."

 

Grillby rubs your hand with his thumb. "What did you do before monsters came above ground?" He asks.

 

You shrug. "Got ready for when monsters came above ground."

 

_What?_

He stares down at you, confused.

 

You look away and grin nervously. "Well, not really. I kinda got ready for when the apocalypse was suppose to come. Gotta say, it came early. Never got my bunker built."

 

Grillby was still watching you. "Why did you start preparing in the first place?"

 

"Nightmares." You say plainly. "Every night since I was young of-" You stop yourself. "Nevermind, you don't need to know about silly dreams." You laugh bitterly and turn on your side to avoid his gaze.

 

"I don't mind." He says, squeezing your hand gently.

 

You simply hum.

 

Grillby doesn't get anymore of a reply.

 

* * *

 

 

You finally get up at morning. A small layer of snow covers the ground but you and Grillby are dry and warm. You guess it's probably due to his fire.

 

Grillby was still holding your hand. What a nerd. He let's go the moment you pull away. You stretch out and stand. "It's cold." you mumble.

 

Grillby stands and collects your blankets. "We should find proper shelter for a bit, you need rest."

 

You rub your eyes. "Your face needs rest." You're tired.

 

Grillby doesn't respond but hands you a bowl. "We'll leave after you eat." He says. You look at the food, it looks like soup.

 

"Do I have too?" You groan. You're not too hungry. Grillby however, insists you eat.

 

You don't put up much of a fight as you sit back down and eat. Once you start eating you realize you actually were pretty hungry, you could of probably went longer without eating but you suppose this monster is somewhat keeping you healthy.

 

* * *

 

 

Two months later.

 

To be honest, you thought you would of left Grillby behind by now.

 

You're a little reluctant to admit he's growing on you, while your still frightened of what he can do. Grillby is pretty cute.

 

He's gotten in the habit of holding your hand, at first this bothered you. It was weird and you were awkward but he respected your space if you pulled away.

The weather started getting colder his hand was a bit more welcome. Turns out being made of fire keeps you quite warm, who knew?

 

You truly became okay with it when you two encountered another human, a loner that was scared of him. He got that look again, the one of death. You took his hand and he froze. You lead him away from the person.

You understand now that this monster has some problems. You guess that being something for him to hold onto helps ground him.

 

It's not that bad, he's kind and tries to take care of you, while annoying you can't help but he reminded of-

 

You cut that thought. The past is gone and so is he. Grillby is not him.

 

The storm is always in your dreams now. Weather right behind you and casing you or in the distance. Grillby has learnt not to question when you wake up randomly and force him to run with you away from where you were.

 

Right now though you don't have that option so you avoid sleep with the thought of "if I can't see it it doesn't happen"

 

The weather was getting to bad for Grillby, the cold was making his fire dim and the snow didn't evaporate before touching him.

 

For once your roles were reversed, he told you he can keep going and you forced him to stop and rest. Finding shelter was difficult but you managed to break into an old barn.

 

You made Grillby sit down while you went do to your normal barricading. The moment you left him he started to make food. What a nerd.

 

Finally you finish and flop down beside him. "What's cooking, hot stuff?"

 

Grillby simply chuckles and gives you a bowl. To be honest, you're not sure what it is but it smells good.

 

You eat and hum. "Are you sure you were a bar tender?" He's too good for a bar.

 

"Fairly sure, yes. I didn't have anything I make now on the menu though. I would only for special occasions."

"I'm flattered." You wink at him.

 

You laugh at the realization on his face, flames turning a shade of pinkish red. "You know what I meant."

 

"That I'm special? Yeah, I know I'm great but you gotta work harder for me but you do have extra points for being so hot." You grin up at him.

 

He covers his face with his hand and laughs.

 

You pat his shoulder and set your food aside, you're not all the hungry. "I'll eat later or something." you say as you lay back on the ground.

 

You relax into the silence. You close your eyes. You hear Grillby shift and go through his bag, you glance at him as he pulls out something.

 

_Is that...?_

 

You sit up and move next to him. "Is that a cell phone?"

 

Grillby looks at you. "Yes?" He turns it on, the screen lights up.

 

_A working cell phone._

 

"No way, how... let me see." Grillby hands you his cell phone. "How does it have power?" You start playing with it. The background picture is a picture of him with what looks to be another fire person like Grillby, only green and a bit shorter.

 

"It's powered by magic." Grillby tells you. _Fucking magic can do anything._

 

"Who's that?" You point at the green fire monster.

 

"That's my niece. She took that back in the underground." He takes his phone back and shows you a picture of the fire girl with another monster, a purple... something, you're not quite sure. "That's her with her girlfriend."

 

"She's cute." Grillby hands you his phone again. "Can I look through your pictures?"

 

Grillby nods and you start flipping through them. A lot of them seem to be taken by other people. There's one with a monster that Grillby stops you on. "That's Sans." He says.

 

You look at it. An odd skeleton in a blue jacket. His face seemingly stuck in a wide smile. He's holding up the camera giving a thumps up and a wink. Grillby is serving fries to some monsters in the background. "Spooky." You say, Grillby laughs.

 

You turn to the next picture. A picture of him with a bunch of other monsters in front of what you guess is his bar considering it has his name on it. You look at the monsters, Sans is there behind him is another skeleton posing heroicly, this skeleton looks a bit more human then Sans.

 

"Who's the other skeleton?"

 

"Papyrus, he's Sans brother. He didn't much enjoy my bar but he's a sweet person."

 

You look at the other monsters, eyes catching on the dogs in armor. "Oh my god, are those the dogs you told me about?"

 

Grillby chuckles and nods. He points to each and names them. "Doggo, Dogamy and Dogaressa. They're married. That's Lesser Dog and Greater Dog."

 

"That's adorable, all their names have dog in it." You love dogs.

 

You go through Grillby's pictures, Grillby adding comments or answering your questions. You're sad when you run out of pictures but you get an idea. You grin and give him his phone back.

 

"Take a picture of us." You're not huge on getting your picture taken, you probably look horrible but you'll make an exception this once.

 

Grillby hesitates for a moment but gets the camera ready. You lean closer to him and smile at the phone, when the shutter sound happens you take the phone back and look at the picture. Yeah, you look terrible but what would you expect?

 

You give the phone back and Grillby stares at the picture, he presses a few things and hands the phone back. You look at it confused.

 

He changed his background picture. "Awwww, you made it your background." You pause. "Why do you have a phone in the first place?"

 

Grillby's fire is glowing bright and yellow. "Oh, right." He takes his phone back, after a few moments he shows you what he's doing. "See right there? That's the closest town with monsters running it. If we were closer I might even be able to call someone but this far away I can only see where it is."

 

"That's awesome! Nothing we have works well anymore..."

 

"I would like to stop by the town if you wouldn't mind."

 

You freeze. "I- uh, I mean you can do whatever you want but you know, I can't exactly go with you there's still that whole killing humans thing."

 

Grillby is silent before his flames crackle and turns red. "Oh, yes. Forgive me, I didn't explain." He sits up a bit. "What I meant was for me to visit the town alone and return to you after I got the supplies I wanted."

 

You shrug. "Sure, I'll just hang out somewhere away from there for a bit." You pause. "Just so you know, if you take too long I'll leave without you."

 

Grillby nods. "We can talk more about it when we get there, it's still a bit aways."

 

The moment is tense for a bit. You decide to steal Grillby's phone again. You lean your back against him and start playing around on it.

 

Grillby chuckles and messes up your hair. "Don't break it."

 

"I know how a cell phone works, Grillz. It's only been like..." You trail off. You don't remember how long it's been since the war started.

 

"How long has it been since you guys came above ground?" You lean your head back to glance at him.

 

Grillby stops to think for a second. "Five years, almost?"

 

 _Wow_. "Five years already..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tbh this was really cute to right and im quite happy
> 
> I'm thinking about making little side fics with things that won't make it into the story, like when Grillby and Reader talked about dogs and stuff
> 
> Also, question:  
> What color is the readers soul?
> 
>  
> 
> oh! if you'd like to ask questions about the story that may be spoilery or want to share theories or just whatever = http://ladyofcold.tumblr.com/


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aayyyyy check out the little side story I made for the time leap thing, it's pretty cute, it's like 3? 4? Shorts on shit that happened counting in when Grillby attacked that random human and the reader was like "Woah, chill" and he did, it's cute at the end
> 
> Also check out my tumblr, i'll give away spoilers(although they're marked so you can skip past them) and random stuff about the story then you'll probably never hear in the story like what happened with Cindy
> 
> ladyofcold.tumblr.com

Grillby let you keep his phone, letting you play around and take pictures as you please. He found it cute how such a little thing seemed to amuse you so much, you were going through his pictures again. "Hey Grillz?" You don't look up from the device. "I just noticed you wear glasses in all these pictures." You comment.

 

He nods. "They broke when planes dropped those explosions. I haven't been able to find a replacement I liked."

 

You look back at him. "I like your eyes."

 

Grillby tenses. His fire turning a bright pink-red. He lifts up his hand to block his view of you and chuckles. "Thank you."

 

You laugh at him and take his hand away from his face. You look back to his phone, still holding his hand. "You're a nerd."

 

He huffs. "Shouldn't you be asleep by now?"

 

"Me sleeping won't stop your nerdness."

 

You get a blanket shoved over your head.

 

* * *

 

 

The storm is distant tonight but you don't rest easy. The man of fire is gone, without the light your left in darkness surrounded by blood.

 

The blood moves and breaths, whispers in a sickenly sweet voice. The ocean of blood blocks all path of escape as it slithers closer. It coos and tells you not to be scared of what's about to happen. There's no way out, you spin but all there is is blood, raising. _How do you get out?_

 

Blood splashes forward on your leg, it grows a limb there and holds you in place as more blood comes forward. You scream and try to kick it off, it knocks you off your feet and starts to consume your legs.

  
Waves of agonizing pain. It seeps under your clothes, into your skin as it crawls higher. Blood binds your hands as well. Forcing you deeper into its torturing hold. You try to scream but it fills your mouth, moving down your throat into your lungs. You can't breath.

 

_you can't breath you're not breathing make it stop it's crawling under your skin please help it hurts please please it's ripping you apart please please please someone save you_

 

But nobody came.

 

* * *

 

 

You struggle against the grasp your in. You beg and plead for it to stop. You hear your name but it doesn't register. You try clawing at your skin, trying to get the sick feeling out of you. You want it out, _it hurts_ , it's freezing and burning and it's crawling around inside you. You need it to stop. Your wrists are grabbed, keeping you from getting it out. You thrash and try to be free of the presence that's now holding you down.

 

"______!" Your name cuts through your terror. You still.

 

_Raiden? No..._

 

You're no longer blind with panic, you see the man of fire over you, holding you down to keep you from tearing into your flesh. "Grillby?" You're not asleep anymore, you're awake and there is no pain. You let yourself go limp. Grillby sighs and releases your wrists. The moment is tense, he doesn't move off you and you can't bring yourself to form words. You gasp when he lifts you a bit, pulling you into a tight hug. You force a laugh, you probably freaked him out. "T-that was kind of scary, ha... Sorry." Your voice is trembling and horse.

 

He pulls back a little bit and looks you over. "Are you hurt?" He wipes tears from your cheeks that you didn't notice were there until just now.

 

"I- No, n-no. I'm okay. just shaken." Grillby pulls you back to him, one hand cradling your head while the other soothes your back. You're not sure what to do for a bit. You haven't been held after a dream for years.

 

Slowly you raise your arms and return Grillby's embrace. You're still shaking. You notice how still Grillby is compared to you. He shifts and you unintentionally cling to him. He holds you close and sits properly. "I got you. It's okay." He whispers. You feel like a kid, clinging to their parent. You can't bring yourself to care though. Not with someone who cares about you holding you so close. _Ha, looks like you got attached._

 

Your shaking finally stops. Grillby never asks about the dream, he just holds you until you pull away. You feel kinda awkward now, not sure what to do with yourself. "You're still a nerd." You mumble.

 

Grillby laughs, a honest laugh. He ruffles your hair. "You want something to eat?"

 

"I think if I eat I'll throw up." You see him deflate a bit. You shrug. "But I guess I could go for something light?"

 

Grillby sighs. "You don't have to eat for my sake."

 

"But you get excited and it's cute."

You laugh as Grillbys flames turns that lovely shade of red. "Well, maybe I shouldn't eat. I should go back to sleep. You move away from Grillby. His fire flickering.

 

"Right after that? I'm unaware of what happened but why would you..." He trailed off.

 

You hum and lay down again. "You learn from the past and future." Is all you say. Grillby asks what you mean but you block him out. You close your eyes and try your best to not think of what could happen.

 

* * *

 

 

The storm is distant tonight but you don't rest easy. The man of fire is gone, without the light your left in darkness surrounded by blood.

 

The blood moves and breaths, whispers in a sickenly sweet voice. The ocean of blood blocks all path of escape as it slithers closer. It coos and tells you not to be scared of what's about to happen. There's no way out, you spin but all there is is blood, raising. _How do you get out?_

 

Blood splashes forward on your leg, it grows a limb there and holds you in place as more blood comes forward. You panic in silence, you turn on the limb and stomp it off. It only works for a short time until more blood approaches. You glance around for an escape but find nothing. You try anyway to run. You run through the blood, it grabs at you and claws to hold you down but you fight and run until you finally see a light, a beacon that looks untainted by the blood.

 

You stumble and blindly head toward the light. The fire? The man of fire? you feel relief as rush to it, the blood getting weaker in its attempts to slow you down until it just stops. Not daring to go near the fire but you reach out for it.

 

You reach out only to be burnt. This was not the man of fire.

 

This was a thing of mirrors. A glowing red filled with cracks and pile. It doesn't let you pull away. It holds onto you has you panic and struggle. It grins as it forces you to look at it. It forces you to watch it break you to watch yourself in its reflection. You see yourself breaking, you feel your skin crack. The pain of it chipping away, you feel the pressure of a hundred sins being forced into you.

 

You watch. You stand. You feel. You're not allowed to scream.

 

Finally you break.

 

* * *

 

 

Your eyes open. Your chest hurts and you have to force yourself to breath. You force yourself to be still, to not shake. You are alone, you are safe. _No, no that's not right_ , you're not alone. You sit up only to lay back down as your head rushes. _Too fast, slow down._

 

You sit up again, slower this time and look around the room. Grillby is off to the side, upon closer inspection you find he's asleep. You're glad you didn't wake him up this time. Looking at him clearly now, something catches your eye. Thin lines where his mouth would be, drifting slightly open more has he breaths in. You briefly remembering him mentioning he hid his mouth.

 

Is his phone still with you? A quick search confirms yes, you indeed have his phone. You smile and turn on the camera.

 

 

You sigh as you wait for the fire monster to wake up. Light pouring in through the cracks in the ceiling. You suppose you could try the dream again but it feels like it would only end poorly again. You need to think of a better plan, while you don't remember the living world in your dreams, your thoughts normally carry on. You sigh again, this time just to breath.

 

You glance at Grillby. _He really did remind you of him sometimes._

 

You frown, you really need to stop thinking that. Grillby is his own person. Instead you focus on your dream, the memory already becoming hazy. You hadn't tried fighting yet. You assume that the blood and mirror man were some type of monster. You're heading by a monster town after all, what else would be? How do you fight a monster? Brief encounters of you simply running away never taught you how to deal with them and Grillby completely wrecked you, that wasn't much of a battle.

 

You remember Grillby saying something about monsters pulling out your soul. You'd rather keep your soul inside you but you guess that's not an option.

 

Maybe Grillby could teach you how to deal with a monster without battle?

You bitterly laugh at yourself, maybe in a perfect world. You may not be able to kill but you can still try to hurt. Anything to survive. You'll ask Grillby after he wakes up to show you how.

  
When did the world get so messed up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, you though you were gonna see your soul in this chapter? That's cute.
> 
> Haha, really though, this started out great, I loved writing the panic in the first part but it kinda went downhill after that because I took a long break and couldn't make myself write
> 
> The only time I wanted to write was when I was half asleep and that's never a good idea
> 
> But you know right now it like 7am in the morning and I haven't slept yet so ill probably regret this but that's a problem for the future -shrugs into space-


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I return

You're curled up. head resting on your knees, mind lost in thought. You don't realize Grillby woke up until he's in front of you with food. You take the dish and set it next to you.

 

"How are you feeling?" Is the first thing he says.

 

You shrug. You don't really like talking about these things, you'll put off letting him know about the dreams for as long as you can. You reflect his question with another question. "How do i fight monsters?"

 

Grillby doesn't speak. He watches you. Moments of silence pass and you grow more uncomfortable.

 

"Stop staring at me like that." You shrink a bit under his gaze. "You said monsters fight different and we're going to a monster town, Grillby. I like not being killed."

 

Grillby relaxes a bit. "You want me to show you what to do?" You nod. Grillby offers his hand, you take it and he pulls you to your feet. "Monsters fight by attacking the soul of enemy. Not all monsters fight like this, as I mentioned before. Humans are easier to take down if you attack the soul after you take them down physically." Grillby takes a few steps back from you and raises his hand. "I'm going to pull out your soul."

 

You feel your chest tighten. It feels like your being pulled but you don't actually move. Colour seems to dull and everything feels darker. A little cartoon heart floats in front of you. Glowing softly. A lovely mixture between blue and purple. Indigo, you think that colour is called. "Woah." is all you can think to say. This little thing is your soul. It's very simple yet really beautiful, No flaws or blemishes like you would of thought. You guess everyone would think their soul is twisted or cracked.

 

Yet here it is, soft and floating.

 

You're snapped out of your daze by Grillby. "It's mixed between too colours. Purple and dark blue. Perseverance and integrity. Mixed souls aren't overly common."

 

"Can I touch it?" You ask. Not entirely sure what's safe to do. Grillby chuckles and nods. You carefully take it so it's floating above the palm of your hands. Slowly, you glaze your thumb over the surface. It's smooth and touching it makes you feel something else. Almost like a hug. "This is so weird. Are you sure this is a soul?"

 

"Very sure. Now, let's start." Grillby stands straight, his arms folding behind his back. "A monsters body is their soul, attacking just that will do damage, the damage is caused by intent. The more you want to hurt someone, the more they will get hurt by your actions. During a battle you have three options. Fight, Act, Mercy. There was once a time when you could simply Act and show Mercy to a monster but that's not safe anymore. I would suggest trying to flee or fight until the monster allows you to spare them."

 

You nod. Taking in the information. Running away sounds like a good idea. You guess you probably won't hurt them much without the intent? This is really weird.

 

"I'm going to attack you, dodge it." Grillby states. Flickers of lights appear above you. Your soul stays low. Little bits of fire rain down slowly. You find your soul stays in place as you try to move out of the way of the oncoming flames. "You're suppose to move your soul not yourself. Focus. Think more then act." You note how none of the little flames actually get near you, let alone touch you.

 

You try again. You picture your soul moving and it obeys you. Moving to the side and jumping up and down, the fire avoids you.

 

"Good, now I'll attack for real. Don't panic, I won't hurt you. Just dodge."  
You listen to what Grillby says. The fire doesn't avoid you this time, instead raining down slowly allowing you to move easily to avoid them. "A real fight will move quicker and sometimes you will need to move your body with your soul but this is the basic of how to fight. Now, attack me."

 

"Wait, what? No!" You stare at him, you wanted to learn not actually fight him.

 

"We're going to spar, ______. It's the quickest way to learn." Grillby is way to calm. He rolls up his sleeves a bit, the flames growing on his arms. "You won't hurt me and I have control over my magic, I won't hurt you." He assures you.

 

"Promise?"

 

"I promise."

 

You're nervous to listen, you'll watch for the signs. If he starts shutting off his brain you can just stop him, right? You sigh and ready your knife. You stand there awkwardly for a second, luckily Grillby is patient with you. Finally you charge at him, swinging down your knife at hid chest. You don't hit anything though, Grillby steps to the side and you stumble forward. Holy shit, he was fast.

 

"What was that?" His voice cuts through your confusion. You straighten yourself up. "Who taught you how to fight?" The battle cuts off, your Indigo soul returns to you and you realize just how much colour you couldn't see.

 

"I taught myself." You mutter. Not everyone can have super teachers, you had to survive on your own.

 

Grillby walks up to you. "You..." He trails off. You get the feeling he was going to say more. You frowned, you weren't that bad. "Here, let me show you." He takes your arm and starts guiding you to the proper stance.

 

"You want you legs to be spread more." That's what she said, you resist the urge to laugh at your own joke. "This will make you harder to push over. Your wrist should be facing towards you, that's a weak spot for humans." Grillby lift your arm higher in front of you. "Stay behind your weapon." The fire elemental continues doing this, pointing out mistakes and correcting them. While you a little embarrassed you need to be corrected in the first place, you're not going to turn away from help.

 

"There, I think that's all- no." Grillby cuts himself off, kneeling down in front of you. With the gentlest touch you've every felt, He cups your face and tilts your head down. "The neck is a very vulnerable place. Keeping it covered is a smart idea."

 

You stare up at him. He didn't move right away, staring down at you. Straight into your eyes. You try your hardest not to look away but with the burning orbs locking onto you, you suddenly feel very self conscious. You break the eye contact, looking off to the side. The heated hand on your face moves further back around the back of your neck. At first you tense, reminded of your first meeting with the monster. However as seconds pass and he does nothing but rest his hand there you allow yourself to relax a bit. You're not quite sure what he's doing though. His eyes just keep boring into you.

 

"Uh, Grillby?"

 

"They say that a humans eyes can reflect what's in their soul." His face is right in front of yours. You can't help but shift under his gaze, feeling like he's judging you.

 

"T-that so? What do you see then?" genuine curiosity, along with a light flutter in your chest. His face is really close to yours and you can feel the heat.

 

"You just look tired." He says rather bluntly. There was a hint on concern in his voice though.

 

You just laugh, covering your mouth as you accidentally snort. This seems to pull Grillby out of whatever daze he was in. Flames on his head turning a bit more red as he chuckles quietly.

 

"Yeah, I am pretty tired." It's true. You were getting tired of everything in this world. Grillby was surprisingly refreshing sometimes. His hand places itself on top of your head in a comforting gesture.

 

"You should try to sleep more then."

 

You wish it were that easy but still, you smile at him and nod. Grillby is glowing that pretty red-pink colour. He seems to be doing that a lot lately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop i'm back, hello guys gals an pals.
> 
> Okay so, i'm no gon promise more chapters going to come overly fast but hey, at least they're coming!
> 
> My inspiration is kinda back!
> 
> http://silverstarsy.tumblr.com/post/144279901624/havent-you-seen-the-stars-before-yeah-but Check out this shit!!! omg i love you so much i'm so happy, my gosh


	11. Being rewriten

Hello! I am back in action but this version of this fic is like, bad and done

however, If you still care I am rewriting it and you can fine the new version on my profile because I know how to bullshit arounds words now and its pretty good y'know

I also got a tumblrs made for the fic now so i look like a professional - https://flamesofarmageddon.tumblr.com/ so go yell at my for being gone for like a year but nicely yelling because I am soft bab

Anway the new fic already has two chapters up so ya'know, read

**Author's Note:**

> special thanks to MissyLeyneous for helping me with this
> 
> have questions about the world?  
> want to know things the reader in this story couldn't tell you about the war?  
> want possible spoilers?  
> maybe even drawings???
> 
> go to http://ladyofcold.tumblr.com/ and ask, i will do the best of my ability to answer


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